Man, I love this show.
Stargate is one of those shows for me that every time I see a reference to it, every time I hear someone talking about it, it makes me want to watch it again. This will mark at least the 5th time. And that’s counting the movie, SG-1 (10 seasons), Atlantis (5 seasons), Universe (2 seasons, although I haven’t see them 5 times since I watched them as they came out), and the follow up films. It’s… a lot of media.
Certainly, there are some downers in there (I’m looking at you Politics), but overall, it’s a great show. It’s not something you see as much any more: an action show that is allowed to be smart, positive, and actually have a good view of the military. I don’t even know if something like this could be made now, but I’m glad it was then!
Specifically for Season 1, it starts out a little rough. The two part opener (Children of the Gods), bridging from the movie to the show is excellent and gives us a chance to see how the main cast take over for the show. Kurt Russell and James Spader1 were great, but Richard Dean Anderson and Michael Shanks are Jack O’Neill and Daniel Jackson to me. You just can’t replace them2.
Kurt Anderson has pretty much the perfect military leader that cares about his team and saving the world down pat. He’s funny in a dry sort of way and does an excellent job in his role.
Michael Shanks starts out rough (a little too nerdy, closer to the movie Daniel Jackson), but that is already fading/growing and changing by the end of the season already.
Other than that, newcomers Christopher Judge as Teal’c and Amanda Tapping as Sam Carter are wonderful as well. People love to hate on how rough Amanda Tapping is in the first season, but that’s really more up to the script. I think of all the characters in Stargate, she’s probably among the very best. She’s smart, sexy, funny, and yet another just good person.
And Teal’c. He’s just … Teal’c. People that love Dave Bautist as Drax in the MCU… well here’s that similar sort of character done even better almost 20 years older.
Episodewise, Children of the Gods is a great opener. There are a handful of great introduction episodes: the Nox for the Nox (heh), Thor’s Hammer for the Asguard, and Enimga for the Tolen. Brief Candle shows Anderson’s acting range. The Torment of Tantalus gives a wonderful bit of history to the program. It’s kind of amazing each time I watch this show just how much happens in that first season. Not to mention There But for the Grace of God with the first of (several) alternate reality episodes. Those are fun.
On the other end, Emancipation is widely considered not great (for a good reason), I didn’t care as much for the Broca Divide (interesting ideas, poor execution), Cold Lazarus is dated and awkward, and Politics is a straight up clip show. That’s one thing I appreciate about more modern shows/those produced for streaming: they don’t have to fit a normal episode or season length. So they don’t need filler episodes to save money. So it goes.
Overall, I love this show and highly recommend it to just about anyone. I look forward both to re-watching it and sharing it with anyone that reads these reviews. Onwards!